


please show me (what love is)

by sataelIite



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Fluff, Joohyuk Bingo, M/M, Same Age, that's it that's the tag, they are just kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 08:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17076869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sataelIite/pseuds/sataelIite
Summary: Minhyuk is too young to know what love is, he just needs Jooheon by his side.





	please show me (what love is)

**Author's Note:**

> for the _**elementary school**_ prompt and summaries aren't my thing so i'm sorry

Minhyuk didn’t know what love was. When his mother asked him if he loved her, he always answered that yes, he did. He didn’t want to see her sad, like the time he had said “no”. So he supposed that loving someone had to do with not wanting to see them sad.

Minhyuk didn’t know what love was, but his father once told him how he and mom met and fell for each other. And he could see a smile in his mother he’d never seen before, and something different in the eyes of his father when he looked at her. So he supposed those things also had to do with love.

Minhyuk didn’t know what love was, but he sometimes watched movies with his parents. Romance movies where a man and a woman fell in love, acted like dorks, argued, suffered… but in the end love overpowered everything, because they always ended up together, with a kiss. So he supposed suffering and kisses had something to do with love. Minhyuk was too young to know what love was, he was only eight and his doubts about what and why to love dissipated after five minutes, because playing with Dambi was way more entertaining.

But then he met Jooheon.

Jooheon was the new kid in his elementary school and was in his same class. As soon as he saw him, with his hair almost reaching his tiny eyes, almost closed, his chubby cheeks and dimples, that showed the moment he spoke and were way more evident when he smiled, Minhyuk thought he was someone very interesting, he’d never seen a child like him. And he wanted to talk to him.

Everyone seemed intimidated by Jooheon, perhaps because of his way of looking or how serious he was most of the time, but Minhyuk was just intrigued. So, the first thing he did one day after hesitating for a whole week was to approach him early in the morning. He was sitting alone in the school garden, with his lunch box and his superhero backpack on. He resembled a frightened puppy and reminded him of Dambi. It warmed his heart.

 

“Hi!” Minhyuk greeted him, sitting with his legs crossed in front of him and stretching his hand. “I’m Lee Minhyuk, you’re Jooheon, right?”

At first, Jooheon looked at him bewildered (Minhyuk still didn’t know how to control the volume of his voice) and he opened his eyes like never before. He stuttered before answering.

“H-Hi, yes, I’m Lee Jooheon.” Jooheon held his hand timidly, dimples barely visible, and Minhyuk couldn’t help but take this like a victory.

“You’re also a Lee? What a coincidence!” Minhyuk spoke very fast and Jooheon seemed a bit lost. Without much success, he tried to calm down a bit. “We should be friends!”

“Jooheon’s face lit up after hearing those words and his dimples showed even more. Minhyuk’s heart melted at the sight and he remembered having heard that in some romance movie.

After that, they became great friends. Minhyuk sat next to him in all their classes, they had lunch together and played during breaks. Minhyuk introduced Jooheon to his other friends, Kihyun and Hyungwon, but it was always them alone, everywhere.

Jooheon started to go to his place to play after school, Minhyuk’s mum adored him and his dad was happy Minhyuk had made another friend. Jooheon was pretty shy, but Minhyuk could tell how he enjoyed the attention and being called cute, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Minhyuk was always by his side to pat him on the back or ruffle his dark hair. Jooheon just thanked him with his eyes.

Something Minhyuk discovered was that Jooheon cried a lot, about everything, and Minhyuk himself wasn’t too good with comforting words. He was young and what he used to do when he cried was simply running into his mother’s arms until he felt he didn’t need to cry more. However, when he saw Jooheon crying because he’d fell from his bike, something in his chest tugged and he ran towards him, worried. Jooheon had his hands on his knee and tears that couldn’t seem to stop running down his cheeks. He was whining.

Then, Minhyuk took out a bottle of water he had in his backpack and a lot of tissues to clean up the wound a little bit because that was what his mom did with him. Jooheon complained some more, but the wound wasn’t that big and that calmed Minhyuk down. He kept on crying and Minhyuk did the only thing that came to his mind at the time: he kissed his friend’s wound softly, just like his mom did to him. It always made him feel better and he just hoped it worked on Jooheon too.

Jooheon just opened his eyes wide.

Next time Minhyuk sees Jooheon cry it’s also the first time Jooheon stays over at his house. They were watching the Lion King and he started crying, softly first, sinking his head between his knees later, holding it in place with his tiny arms. Minhyuk didn’t know what to do: he didn’t like seeing Jooheon cry and didn’t know how to handle things he didn’t like. He used to throw tantrums when he didn’t like something, but he guessed that wouldn’t be right now. Suddenly, he remembered how his father once hugged his mother when she was crying while watching a movie, so he did that.

Jooheon hugged him back, feeling tiny in his arms. The kept on watching the movie, holding each other and while Minhyuk felt his tummy weird. Heony was the reason why Minhyuk went excited to classes every day. He’s the reason why he started watching superhero movies and reading comics. He’s also the reason why he started to like some subjects he didn’t before, because Jooheon was good at explaining things that he couldn’t understand. They spent all weekends together and Minhyuk threw tantrums every time he had to go back home, because that was his way of dealing with things. Except when he saw Jooheon crying. Then he kept on hugging and kissing him wherever it hurt when that happened.

 

“Mom…” Minhyuk said while he ate some pizza. “What is love?”

His mom looked at him puzzled while she poured some soda in his tiny glass with a drawn whale. 

“Why do you ask, Hyukkie?"

“I don’t know…” It was the truth. “Curiosity, I guess…” He took a sip of his soda.

“Oh…” His mom smiled at him. “Well, love can come in many different forms, you know? There’s the love between a mother and a son, like the one I feel towards you.” She patted his hair softly. “Also your pets…” Minhyuk looked at her surprised. “You can love your pets, I’m sure you love your Dambi very much…”

He felt his dog moving between his legs, eating the crumbs that had fell to the ground, and smiled. That was perhaps what his mom meant.

“There’s the love your relatives and friends give you, like your brother, your grandma, your cousins and uncles… They adore you.” She smiled. “Like Kihyun and Hyungwon, they also love you a lot. That’s love.”

Minhyuk doubted that, because Kihyun and Hyungwon only messed with him. But then, he remembered that they were the first ones to greet him every morning and gave him cookies when he didn’t have anymore. Perhaps mom was right.

“Like Jooheon…”

He looked up, more curious than before, and his mother was looking at him oddly and with an even stranger smile.

“There’s also the love between couples, like your father and I.” Minhyuk smiled, remembering the story of how they’d met. “But that doesn’t happen just between men and women: it can also happen between men and men, women and women, love can come in many ways, we can’t control that.” She said while she placed another pizza slice on his plate. “Love is about not wanting to see the other person suffering, much less because of you. It’s about wanting to make the other person happy just because you want to see their smile. It’s about what the other person makes you feel when they talk or look at you. It’s about caring and helping.” While his mom talked, Minhyuk forgot about his pizza for some moments. “The important thing about love is giving without expecting anything in return: love is not something we exchange, it’s something that makes you happy.” She said while she got up and kissed his forehead. “And many other things that you wouldn’t understand now, so this is more than enough.”

Minhyuk wasn’t too sure if he had understood everything his mom had said, but while he ate his last pizza slide, the only thing he could think about was about how when Jooheon kissed his wounded hands after falling while running, he didn’t feel the same as when his mom did it. He didn’t feel the same happiness when he played with Dambi than when he played with Jooheon. He didn’t feel the same when he saw his cousins than when he saw Jooheon coming to school, with his lunchbox and his superhero backpack bouncing on his back.He didn’t feel the same when he was with Kihyun and Hyungwon, he didn’t want to be with them nor take care of them all the time. He also didn’t feel weird when he hugged them, unlike what happened when he hugged Jooheon.

He perfectly knew he had never felt anything like what he felt when Jooheon cried in the middle of a movie night and cuddled him until he fell asleep. They were two very different feelings: seeing him crying and then calming down in his arms, like when it was winter and snow slipped through his clothes, freezing his back and he finally arrived home to a lit up fireplace.

He tried to compare, but he really didn’t have much to work with.

The only thing kept thinking about was that he didn’t know much about love and whatever his mom had told him slipped through his fingers… but he really hoped that whatever he felt towards Jooheon was love.

 

One day, they are sitting in his backyard, with action figures, comics and some sandwiches his mom prepared around them. Minhyuk sees Jooheon sitting with his crossed legs, high socks up to his knees, his wavy, black hair with two leaves sticking out and a tiny smile framed by dimples. Then Minhyuk hopes that weird feeling in his tummy to really be what his mom mentioned and what he had seen so many times in movies. So he just says it.

“Heony…” He calls, and Jooheon looks up.

He wipes his mouth and says. “What happens, Hyukkie?”

Minhyuk wonders if he’ll ever stop sounding so shy when he talks to him.

“I think I love you.” Minhyuk talks without thinking twice, because that’s how he is. Sometimes his mom scolds him, saying he’s way too direct, but he thinks this is the best way to say things.

Jooheon looks at him confused. “Me too,” he answers, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Really? How do you know? In what way?” Minhyuk asks hurriedly.

Jooheon is slower and more blunt in his answer. “I don’t know. I enjoy being with you and mom says that’s what you do when you love someone. And I always spend time with you and I want to keep doing it so, I love you?” He hesitates while talking, as if he feared Minhyuk’s answer.

Minhyuk thinks that this is way easier than everything he’d thought before, than everything his mom told him (how can his mom complain about how he talks, really) and he smiles because he loves Jooheon. He loves him dearly and enjoys spending time with him, taking care of him, kissing his wounds and hugging him when he’s afraid or sad. He loves all of that and doesn’t want to stop doing it.

“Then I do love you.” Minhyuk says, and Jooheon’s cheeks turn pink, which makes him look even more adorable. Minhyuk wants to kiss them even if they’re not hurt but he just smiles. Because this is what loving someone means, right? Loving the happiness of the other one and being happy with them.

He’d think later if he loves Jooheon like he loves his friends or relatives, or like he loves him like mom loves dad or those romance Disney movies tell. He can think about it tomorrow or in some months or years. As long as he has Jooheon in front of him reading comics, he can be happy.

**Author's Note:**

> english isn't my first language so thanks to [suzu](https://twitter.com/fromzrx) for proof-reading it ♡ (she's the only girl ever). i hope you like it!! _blows a kiss to the sky:_ for joohyuk!


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